STEWART and Willie were schoolboys. They walked home from school together, and often spent their evenings with one another. I met the two boys one night at the close of a children’s gospel meeting. Stewart was sitting close to the wall, looking so serious that I was certain something was troubling him. Sitting down by his side, I asked him, “Well, Stewart, is your soul saved yet? Can you look forward to being with Jesus in that bright and happy home where they can see His face?”
He raised his head, and with such an earnest look—his big blue eyes peering into mine—he slowly replied, “I cannot say that, sir, but I would like to be saved, and I have been trying all I can since last Friday night.”
“What have you been doing, Stewart?” I asked.
“Well,” he went on, “when I went home from the meeting last Friday night, I told my father and mother I would like to be saved. They told me if I was good, and did what I was told, and keep God’s commandments, I would be saved, and get to heaven. They said, that was in the Bible, sir; and so Willie and I have made up our minds to do it, and we will try and live as best we can from now on.”
The decided manner in which the little fellow spoke left no doubt in my mind that he was really in earnest about his salvation. But it was sad to think that he had been put on the wrong track to find it, by those who ought to have been able to guide him. For you know, they were entirely mistaken, and had told little Stewart what was not true. There is no part of the Bible that says boys and girls will get to heaven if they be “good” and “keep the commandments.” But I’ll tell you what it does say: it says there is “none good,” but that everyone has broken the commandments, that all have sinned and are under the curse. Just read Romans 3:9-19, and Galatians 3:10, and you will see.
When I told the dear boy this, his blue eyes filled with tears, and he sobbed bitterly, for after all his trying, he was unfit for heaven and could not go there.
“And what will we do then, sir?” he asked, seriously.
“You can do nothing, Stewart, because we are all ruined sinners; but if you both come close I will let you read in my Bible what the Lord Jesus has done for you.”
The boys drew near, and we turned and read in Isaiah 53. This is the chapter that tells about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, when He died on the cross for sinners. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” v. 6.
“Now all this was for lost sinners,” I said, “and He suffered and died that they might go free. I am saved by His work and not by mine. Do you believe that Jesus died for you?” “Yes, I do, for I am a sinner,” said Stewart.
“Well, let’s see what Jesus says of those that believe.” We turned to John 6:47. There the Lord says: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”
“What does He say you have, Stewart?” I asked.
“Everlasting life, sir—everlasting life,” said the boy, and the cloud passed from his face as he said it.
I thought it best to leave the Word of God with the two boys, and not to press them to say they believed; soon after, we parted.
The next evening, a while before meeting time, my two little friends were there. I asked Stewart how it stood with him now.
“Saved, sir, saved, and Willie here, too. He saw it first, and we are both happy now.”
“What did your parents say about it?”
“Not much, sir; but they said they saw a change in us.”
Those two little soldiers went on rejoicing, and they soon learned what it was to suffer for Christ’s sake.
ML-04/10/1966